Things Best Forgotten
by Randomuso
Summary: A marine turns up beaten and raped. The NCIS team arrives on scene, but something is pushed to the surface, that Special Agent McGee wold rather be forgotten.
1. Chapter 1

Leigh woke for the second time that night to the sound of premature screaming. She rolled over, onto her stomach. Her husband; a lean marine was sleeping peacefully, snoring softly, or at least pretending to. Leigh smiled and got out of bed, padding over to the door in her night attire: a singlet and knickers. She stepped outside into the hallway, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The screams continued as she opened the door closest to them and she walked across the room, picking up her baby boy. She bounced and crooned to him. Singing softly in his ear, she wandered aimlessly around the house.

A faint rap on the door made her freeze with fright for a moment. The rap came again, even more difficult to hear than the last. Leigh frowned at the clock, its glaringly bright fluorescent green lights displaying 5:00 am. Hesitantly, she swapped Jarred (her baby boy) to one arm and approached the door.

The rapping coming for a third time made her jump, but she kept on. Breathing deeply, she opened the door. It creaked like it always did, a prolonged high pitched noise that made her hair stand on end.

A horrifying sight met her eyes. Her good friend Amber, lying in a bloody, tearful heap on the floor.

Leigh's eyes widened noticeably as she put Jarred in a bouncer and helped Amber over to the couch. Amber sobbed pitifully. "Leigh…he hurt me…" Leigh pulled her friend's head into her chest and shushed in her ear. "Come on, it's ok now. You're safe now." She repeated the mantra a couple of times before a different door creaked and her twelve year old daughter Imogen was at the entrance to the lounge.

She stared impassively at Amber for a second, no more, before turning to her mother. Leigh rocked Amber. "Imogen, get your father."

Imogen nodded and bolted towards their bedroom. No questions asked, at least for the time being. She was a good kid. Leigh had had her older (by four years) brother Diego when she was just seventeen, leading to a rush wedding with the father. Then again, she could hardly be blamed. They had gotten engaged the night before, and they _had_ been going out since primary school. They had been a known couple since then. Pretty much, they were a fairytale. Amber's story, however, was more of a horror and/or angst film. She had been the first in their group, their clique, (the ever so slightly emo ones) to get a guy. She had given him her heart, pinned everything on him. And he dumped her, after five years of a steady relationship. She had never gotten over it, resorting to turning into a slutty man-catcher, but still a good person. She still had morals. Leigh had seen her only a couple of times since high school, but it didn't look as though she had changed much. Apart from being bruised and bloody, she was stark naked. Leigh pursed her lips. She could only imagine what horrors her friend had been through.

Her husband suddenly came barrelling down the hall in his jeans, concern etched into the light angles his face, which only increased upon seeing his wife and the woman in her arms. Imogen was trailing behind him with her twin Rico by her side. They were both staring, not at Amber, but at their mum, quite obviously worried about her. They had met Amber only once, and briefly at that, but they cared a hell of a lot more about their mother than they did the near stranger that was sobbing into her chest.

They didn't speak to each other. They didn't need to. Sometimes Leigh and her husband thought they were telepathic. Speaking of which, her husband; Alejandro, was a fairly low ranked marine, but he was the main breadwinner for the family. Leigh made small amounts of money out of giving piano lessons.

Alejandro rushed over and checked her vitals and picked up the phone. "Hi. There's marine at my house, 15 Turlinn Way, just outside Norfolk O club. She appears to have been raped."


	2. Chapter 2

Tony grinned, leaning onto Ziva's desk. "So, how many have you had, Ziva?" he asked.

McGee shook his head from across the room and Ziva grinned. "That is a competition I have no doubt that you will win Tony, and as odd as it may seem, McGee and I are not interested in hearing about the multitude of relationships have been involved in and how you can match every, _single_ one to a movie!" The sentence ended harshly.

Tony grinned back and began to walk cockily around the bullpen. "Well you see now Ziva, that isn't exactly accurate. There was this one girl, Tanya-"

To the others immense relief, Gibbs chose that moment to walk in and grabbed his gear. "I don't want to hear it either DiNozzo." He threw the keys at his Senior Field Agent. "Gas the truck. We've got a rape and beating in Norfolk, possibly related to the Oden case. Let's roll."

As the team jogged after him to the elevator, Tony passed between Ziva and McGee. "I'll finish that story at a later date."

He ran faster into the elevator and behind Gibbs before Ziva could batter him.

She smiled slightly and stamped on his foot.

As the team clambered out of the truck, Tony was still complaining. "I didn't know your crazy ninja skills went so low as to step on my foot." he whined.

Ziva spun and stopped suddenly, punching a pressure point on his stomach, causing him to double over and wheeze. "Hardly one of my…_crazy ninja skills_." she whispered in his ear, laughing and stalking away.

Tony's eyes watered as he attempted to straighten up, mocking McGee's grin and trying not to think about what Gibbs would say if he had seen that situation unfold. By the time he had regained full bodily movement, the others were nearly at the door to the nice wooden house. The baby blue and white paint was very neat and the full garden had a heap of massive trees in the yard, one of which was the host of a really big and elaborately carved tree house. He ran up and pushed past Ziva to the front next to Gibbs, who pointedly ignored him, but seemed to like the woodwork.

Gibbs rapped on the door, holding his badge ready.

It opened to a woman in bright purple fisherman's pants and a green singlet. She was very pretty, with long, nutmeg hair and pretty blue eyes, currently haunted by a dark shadow. She seemed very nervous and jumpy, but held up. "Hello?" she asked.

Gibbs showed her his badge. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. These are agents Tony DiNozzo, Tim McGee and Officer Ziva David. You called about a raping."

The woman didn't respond. She was staring at space, seeming to be having trouble comprehending something. Gibbs looked back at his agents. McGee was looking about the same as the woman, somewhat torn between confusion and happiness. Tony looked worried. Only Ziva was behaving normally, and she exchanged raised eyebrows with Gibbs.

Tony spoke before his Boss could. "It wasn't you, was it Leigh?" The immense concern in his voice was clear.

Leigh snapped out of her zoned out state. "Um..yeah..no. No. It wasn't me. I'm not a marine Tony." she said, more exasperated than anything else.

At her words, the anxiety left Tony, and a small measure of it left McGee as well.

Gibbs just started to get frustrated.

At that stage, a man walked on scene. He had olive toned skin, black marine cut hair and dark brown eyes. He looked and sounded distinctly Spanish. "I'm sorry, this has been a bit of shock for my wife. Her name is Leigh, I'm her husband, Alejandro Rodriguez."

Gibbs took in his appearance. "Marine?" he asked. It sounded more like a statement, but the man answered anyway, pointedly ignoring both McGee and DiNozzo.

"Lance Corporal, sir." he replied.

Gibbs nodded. "Where's the marine I'm looking for?" he asked.

Alejandro nodded. "Right this way sir. We think she's in shock at the moment." he said, subconsciously putting a protective arm around his wife as he started to lead Gibbs further into the house.

Leigh broke away from his grasp and suddenly spun to face Gibbs. "Could you leave your team outside please?" she pleaded. Alejandro said nothing.

Gibbs nodded. It could pass for a request because too many people probably wouldn't be too good for the victim psychologically, but he didn't think that was the reason. It was something more.

Either way, he ordered his team to stay put and motioned for Alejandro and Leigh to lead on.

Gibbs looked around at the neat house. It would cost a fair bit of money on a private's salary. They were probably still paying off the mortgage.

A high pitched scream suddenly pierced the silence.

Alejandro leant down and kissed his wife on the cheek, whispering something in her ear and walking away, in the direction of the scream.

Gibbs smiled slightly. "You have kids?" he asked, although it was pretty obvious.

Leigh smiled as well. "Yeah. That was our baby boy, Jarred. He's only a couple of months old. We also have a seventeen year old boy that we haven't heard from in yonks, and tweeny twins. Do you have kids?"

Gibbs' smile faded. He saw Kelly in his mind… "No."

Leigh seemed to see through the harsh words, but left it at that, not wanting to bring uup painful memories.

Silence surrounded them to the living area.

On the white couch, a beautiful blonde haired, green eyed woman sat with a blanket around her shoulders. The blankness on her face said more than words could muster. Leigh went and sat beside her. "She arrived at the door at five this morning, naked and bloody and crying her heart out. She told me that someone had raped her, and she hasn't really moved since. I've been with her since she got here." she said.

Gibbs nodded, but didn't sit down. "I'll have to let my forensic scientist and medical examiner to look at her." he said.

Leigh nodded.

Gibbs moved close enough to Leigh to whisper. "We should continue this conversation out of her company." he 'suggested'.

Leigh nodded and called out. A second later, what Gibbs could only presume was her daughter arrived. "Imogen, this is Special Agent Gibbs. He's here to help Amber. Could you stay with her while I talk to him, please?" she asked.

Imogen nodded and came over silently, while Gibbs and Leigh walked out into the kitchen.

They both looked over at the girl sitting on the couch and her charge. "Her name's Amber Crawley. She's a Private First Class. Obviously, she must be on leave. We were best friends from primary school, all through elementary. She visits occasionally, but the kids don't know her all that well. She's a bit inappropriate." she began without prompting.

Gibbs asked the question with his eyes.

Leigh pursed her lips. "She's a bit of a slut." Seeing the disapproval on Gibbs face, she tried to elaborate. "She has reason to! Sort of. Well, it's not really a reason. I-"

Gibbs cut her off. "Where do my agents come into this?"

Leigh seemed grateful for the solid facts to talk about. "Ok, this is partly the reason I was talking about. Anyway, um, me and Alejandro are high school sweethearts, but Amber was with someone before even we got together. They were really steady for five years, but then, her guy broke it off. She was devastated. He was shunned. I stayed friends with him and her. She started cutting herself, getting really depressed, but I never told him. He was already hating himself for it too much. then Amber just sort of, went really slutty, got whoever she could, and that was everyone. I don't know, he was really depressed. He never should have broken it off." she babbled.

Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "One of my agents?" he asked.

Leigh nodded.

He sighed and nodded in comprehension. "DiNozzo." he stated.

Leigh looked taken aback and shook her head. "Tony? No way."

"It was Tim."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is a bit of a Gibbs POV chappie. Don't fret though! McGee is not forgotten!

Gibbs froze momentarily with dubious and thoroughly confused shock. McGee? Little Timmy McGee? He could only begin to imagine Tony's reaction if he had heard that.

Well then, he needed to have a very serious talk to his computer tech.

"Ok. I'll make sure he doesn't see her until he has to." he said, almost robotically.

What he really meant, was that the young man would most definitely be talking to the victim, when he had to.

Leigh nodded.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and walked back out of the kitchen, past the couch where Imogen was holding the hand of the blank faced woman. Leigh accompanied him slowly. "So, what about Tony?" he asked.

Leigh grinned. "He went to college with m and Ale. Ale and I broke up for a little while when we were there, and I was ah..._with_, Tony…for the duration of that period." The phrase finished quickly. "Ale still hates him for it, but we kept in touch."

Gibbs nodded and they walked down the corridor to the front door, where Gibbs' team stood in a very awkward silence.

_When Gibbs left the team at the hallway…_

Ziva spun the boys to face her at the back of the group. "Who was that woman?" she asked.  
Tony and McGee answered at the same time.

"Leigh."

They looked at each other suspiciously and Ziva glared at them both equally.

Tony broke first, slightly out of character, but then again, fairly normal. He was talking about a girl. "I slept with her in college. She's a good friend."

McGee snorted.

The other two rounded against him on the left side, eyebrows cocked.

He sighed. "She was my best friend in Elementary School."

Tony grinned and the pair reformed their line at the front.

Ziva just rolled her eyes.

_Back to before…_

Gibbs was snapped back to his usual leading persona by the time he had arrived at the doorway. "Ziva, photos, DiNozzo, bag and tag and statements, McGee, perimeter. Track her back." he ordered.

As always, his commands were obeyed immediately. That was part of the reason he endured all of their quirks, joked and banter. They got down to business and did the work.

He turned to Leigh. "Go and tell Tony everything about this morning. Make sure Amber is all right." he said, no longer ordering, merely suggesting.

The pretty woman nodded and left.

Gibbs sighed and waited for her to stray out of sight, before turning the other way and striding down a different hallway, with light white and crimson red wallpaper.

It went on for a fair few metres, before it split two ways. Both ways were the same, two doors, one white and one black on the wall closest to Gibbs.

The other wall consisted entirely of a mahogany bookshelf, but for a space in the middle, say, a metre and a half square. That was an arched window, with a seat, cushioned in colours that matched the walls.

The bookshelf was filled to breaking point, with the occasional gap where a book had been taken out for someone to read. The wood of the shelf itself, along with the window seat, frame and the doors in the hallway, were all beautifully crafted and carved with patterns more delicate and elaborate than Gibbs could imagine.

He admired the work for a moment, before turning to face the wall without the shelf, the one with the woodworked doors. The rest of the wall was covered with photos, all in intricately worked mahogany frames. Some of the photos contained the entire family, including the seventeen year old, and the baby, that must have been rather recent. There were others with the parents when they were young, of the children progressing through their school years, of the twins and the parents, of the older boy and his parents, of the kids, so many beautiful photos, not all of them from the same place. There was proof of travel to each of the seven ancient wonders, or at least the sites, a dozen far off places and times, that would for now only be reached in their memories.

After a short while of staring in wonder at the photos, Gibbs' sharp ears picked up the opening of a door. He spun to face Alejandro, who was stood staring at him from the left, baby Jarred in his arms. The husband didn't say anything.

Gibbs strode closer. "Tony DiNozzo." he said simply.

Alejandro bounced Jarred, but Gibbs didn't miss the way his mouth tightened and his eyes narrowed.

Gibbs came to a stop close enough to touch the baby, but didn't. "Your opinion."

Alejandro looked down at his baby. "He just couldn't keep it in his pants, could he? I think he lured every girl in college into sleeping with him." he stated, quite obviously keeping his voice and choice of words limited for Jarred's sake.

Gibbs decided to stir it up a bit. "Yeah, well, he hasn't changed much."

Alejandro snorted.

"Leigh seems to like him."

Alejandro's nostrils flared out in anger, but he remained otherwise calm. He kept silent.

Gibbs liked him. He could control himself rather well. "He will be working this case with the rest of my team. You realise that, don't you Mr Rodriguez?"

The Spaniard's face darkened for a moment, but softened again almost straight away. "I know sir. That will be fine. If Leigh wants me to let him, then I will. Then again, she doesn't always keep the best company." He half mumbled the last sentence, almost as though he didn't mean to say it aloud.

Gibbs chose this moment to pounce. "Company like Tim McGee?" he asked softly.

Alejandro stiffened visibly in an effort to contain himself. He walked rigidly back into the room he had come from. Gibbs followed him to the doorframe. He looked in to the brightly painted room. The walls were a backdrop of fields and meadows, the white and green crib, shelves, chair, table and green shagpile carpet all fitting in as part of the scene.

Gibbs admired once again the handiwork with the wood, watching as Alejandro lovingly placed Jarred in his crib, beneath a mobile of snowflakes and stars.

The way the Spaniard looked at the baby, the same way he looked at his wife, left Gibbs in no doubt what was important to that man. He loved them enough to die for them, enough to kill for them.

However, as eh reached the Special Agent, shutting the door behind them, the look melted off his features and morphed into a mask of pure hard, cold rage. His speech was tight and strained. "That man does not deserve-"

He cut himself off, standing stock still, every muscle in his body tensed.

Gibbs just looked at him. All he did was look, and the words flooded out.

"He broke Amber and he hurt Leigh. He split the group, he killed it. He took Leigh away from me, and Amber away from everyone. She was never the same after him, and Leigh, I love her so much, she just worried about him all the time, about them both, she didn't think stop until we got into college. I confronted her about it and she went off to Tony. He is a shallow man. He just doesn't deserve what he has. He should broken like he broke her." He finished with no uncertainty, ignoring that McGee was Gibbs' Agent.

Gibbs glared at the man. "Well, he is where he is, and he does deserve to be there. You have no idea what he has sacrificed, what he has done to save the lives of other marines just like you and Amber. And he will be working this case as well, so if you can't cope with that, then I suggest you try to interfere as little as possible with our investigation."

And with that, he walked out.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ok, I am really sorry to people that have been reading this! I kind of, forgot about it. Thank you to all my reviewers and favouriters and alerters, especially TheaterFreak123 for reminding me! **

**This chapter is much longer than my previous ones, and I believe the standard of my writing has improved since my last update, so do enjoy! Consider it a Christmas pressie!**

McGee was glad of being given such an easy, familiar and solitary task. He really needed a moment to sort out his thoughts. He had no idea who the victim was, perhaps he knew them, a friend from school…did any of their friends become marines? Then, he hadn't seen Leigh since leaving Elementary school, in fact, he'd all but run from that part of his life as soon as he could…she'd probably made thousands of new friends, being the lovely lady she was. He probably didn't know the victim. At least, he hoped he didn't.

He watched as Ducky and Jimmy arrived on scene, parking somewhere down the road. They were involved in an animated argument, as per usual, but he felt compelled to stay out of their path. The last thing he wanted right then was a long winded story, or god forbid, a psychological analysis. In fact, he was repulsed by the idea of company at all. What worried him, was the fact that he didn't know why. Sure, he wasn't the most social of men, he often preferred to hang around nice, logical electronics than the confusing company of humans, which other people seemed to constantly crave. It wasn't that he didn't like people, no, he loved people, but sometimes it was good to be around technology. With technology, he always knew what was going on. It often wasn't so with people.

No, it wasn't that he just didn't want to be around people…

He didn't want people near him, he didn't want them to watch him repress and ignore the negative emotions that seeing his old schoolday friends that dragged up from the deep pit that existed purely for the disposal and containment of memories and emotions that he didn't care for. No, he didn't want anyone to see that…

Tracing the crimson stains on the concrete was easy, but he couldn't rid himself of the uneasy feeling that had settled in his stomach. Alejandro's violent expression had been expected, but Leigh, he'd thought their relationship had been positive enough for her to smile when he next saw her. Leigh always smiled, something drastic must have happened if she had lost her customary optimism.

The unease grew considerably…

Tim sighed, shaking his head to clear it, focussing on the blood trail, despite the fact that it required less concentration than breathing, refusing to let his mind worry over what was probably nothing.

That was how Tony found him as he ran up after him. "Probie!"

McGee gave an exasperated sigh, not turning from his work. "What do you want, Tony?"

Taken aback, Tony just gave a grin. "Ooh, tetchy, Probie. So, what do you think? Our vic. is a Lance Corporal, apparently an old friend of Leigh's, name's…Amber Crawley. She turned up early this morning, naked and bloody, saying she'd been raped."

"Tony!" Ziva's yell seemed to echo through McGee's head.

Tony spun and began to run off, but turned back to tap McGee on the shoulder. "Oh yeah, the Boss wants to see you, wanted to tell you something."

He turned and left.

Amber Crawley. Amber…The name bounced around the walls of McGee's head, bringing a new burst of pain with every jump. He could see Tony's lips moving, but the rush of blood and air in his ears too loud for him to hear what he was saying. He backed up, clutching at a tree trunk as his legs seemed to fail him. Amber Crawley…

As if on cue, an ambulance sped into sight, alarms blaring and sirens flashing. It parked just outside the cordoned off area and paramedics jumped out of the back. A second later, McGee's wide, white eyes watched as Alejandro walked out of the front door, supporting a bloodied blonde, wrapped in a blanket. One look at her blank, emerald eyes, and the weight of the situation suddenly hit him in full.

Tim's vision swam, filling with images. He was suddenly very glad to be away from the house. The house where his worst mistake was ready to confront him, where the unresolved arguments and depression of his teenaged years threatened to engulf him. That house was his worst nightmare. It was as if all of the bad things he'd done in his life, all of his most deserved enemies had convened on one point.

Finding it hard to stay upright, Tim slid down the trunk of the tree.

It made sense now. Leigh's torn eyes, her guilty and confused mind piled the guilt on and it hit him like a tonne of cement. Alejandro's hateful expression, visions of the man working to restrain himself, trying very hard not to throw McGee where he wouldn't be able to hurt his family anymore. Tim almost wished he would. It was all the worse for the fact that he'd endured it all before.

He felt physically sick, tears pricking at the back of his eyes, but he knew the worst was still to come.

Tim buried his head in his knees, wrapping his arms around it to clutch at the back of his skull, as the images of Amber pushed to the front of his mind, shoving away all thoughts of Leigh and Ale.

Amber, her face devoid of any emotion, a blank mask that didn't want to face the horrors she'd been through.

Not Amber…

Then her face transformed, and suddenly before him, was a sixteen year old Amber, her beautiful emerald eyes swimming in tears, the feather scars on her wrist that no-one ever thought he'd noticed. Her perfect face, frozen in an expression of shock and pain, pure pain, straight from the heart.

Faces of the others, all contorted with hate and anger bore down on him, hostile and accusatory…

This was his fault.

"McGee."

A hand on his shoulder alerted him to Gibbs' presence, crouched low beside him. His voice was soft, gentle even, by the ex-marine's usual standards, and that caused McGee to add embarrassment to the hurricane of emotions raging in his head. A blush crept up his neck, but he lifted his head out of his knees, proud of the fact that he'd not yet let tears wet his cheeks.

He still looked like crap and he knew it.

Gibbs' eyes were gentle, concerned, but they had the steely, determined look that meant he was going to get answers.

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Tony told you." Gibbs stated simply.

McGee nodded, not trusting himself to speak, but true to form, Gibbs just waited in silence.

Knowing he would never outlast Gibbs in a battle of wills, McGee sighed. "We went out, in primary school. And in elementary."

Gibbs' eyes pinned him down.

"I-We, a—I-I," McGee blubbered, feeling the tears finally leave his eyes. He gulped, gathering his dignity. He lifted his shining, green eyes to look at the Boss, ignoring the way his voice cracked, conveying the sincerity of his statement through his expression.

"I loved her, Gibbs."

The Gunny sat down properly, settling in for a good talk. "So why did you leave her?"

McGee let out a sob, and Gibbs' hand gently squeezed his shoulder. "Talk to me, Tim."

"I didn't think I was good enough for her. There was this day, she was getting bullied and I, I saw it, but I didn't do anything, I couldn't do anything to stop it. We were 17, and I couldn't help her. I knew that she'd be better off with anyone except me, someone who could protect her. So I broke up with her."

Sighing, Gibbs looked McGee in the eye. He'd always known he was insecure, but he now knew where it came from.

"That's why I started doing this type of stuff. I just needed to protect someone, cause I couldn't help her."

Gibbs remained silent, letting him spill it all out. He was kicking himself for never having found any of this out. How had he never known this about his youngest field agent?

McGee was staring up at Gibbs, hope and desperation filling his eyes. "I left her to protect her, Boss, you have to believe me!"

Sensing that McGee was becoming hysterical, Gibbs declared his speaking time up and gripped his shoulder more firmly. "I do believe you Tim, I believe you. You did a very selfless, and a very stupid thing."

McGee's hurt eyes shot to the floor.

"You were more than good enough for anyone, Tim, and I never want to hear you say anything like that again." He waited for McGee to nod before continuing. "You're going to sort this out, Tim. And first things first, you're going to talk to Leigh."

Looking back up at Gibbs, McGee's brow creased with worry. "But, Boss-"

It took only a look from Gibbs, and McGee was on his feet.

"I expect a full report when you get back." Gibbs called after him.

McGee cast back a reluctant nod. "Yes, Boss."


	5. Chapter 5

Alejandro delivered Amber to the paramedics, all bundled up in the blanket as she was. She was almost completely non-responsive. The most anyone had gotten out of her was a nod to say she didn't want anything to eat or drink, and Ale was reluctant to let her out of his grasp. The blanketed bundle wasn't the same Amber that he'd known in school. It wasn't even the same Amber that the bastard Timothy had turned her into. This wasn't even Amber. It was an empty shell.

Sighing, Alejandro watched the ambulance drive off. She'd be fine. She'd get better in the hospital, physically at least. Then again, it wasn't how she healed physically that worried him. He felt something press into his shoulder. Putting an arm around his wife, Alejandro kissed the top of her head.

"She'll be alright, won't she, Ale?" Leigh asked softly.

Ale's heart ached at the pain in her voice. He knew she wasn't worried about her physically either. "She's just in shock, honey. She'll recover."

Leigh nodded uncertainly and pressed into his side, seeking the comfort that she knew he would give her. "Ale, why didn't I keep an eye on her?" she began after a moment.

Alejandro knew another pang of pain when she spoke, and drew his arm back, turning to face her with his hands on her shoulders.

Her beautiful face was filled with pain and uncertainty. She bit her full lip and her wide, innocent eyes were creased at the edges. "Ale, I should have looked after her. I knew she wasn't going to take care of herself after school, I should have-"

Ale pulled her to his chest, effectively silencing her and shielding his eyes from hers. "Sweetheart, it's not your fault. Don't say it was your fault. Someone hurt her, you couldn't have stopped that. We knew Amber wasn't going to change. If it was anyone's fault it was Timothy's."

Leigh pushed away slightly, just enough to look up at his face, her expression now guilty and slightly hurt. "Ale, don't say that. It isn't Tim's fault."

Ale brushed a strand of hair from Leigh's face. "Whose fault is it then? If he hadn't broken up with her, then she wouldn't have gone so...slutty, for lack of a better word. He could have at least talked to her, but he ran away." His tone was calm, like it always was, but mention of Tim and Amber brought a hint of strain to his voice. The unresolved tension of years ago always found its way into the open.

Leigh pushed away violently, spinning around and stalking away. "I'm not having this discussion with you, Alejandro."

Ale grimaced, but didn't try to go after her. She'd probably slap him if he did. The last time they'd had this argument, she'd thrown a hairdryer at him and gone and slept with Tony.

Giving another sigh, Ale put his head in his hands. Why had he mentioned Tim? God, he was an idiot sometimes. Turning away from her, he went back into the house.

Leigh felt tears springing to her eyes. That unresolved tension Ale felt applied to her too. Doublefold. She had been the go-between girl. She had been the one to try and hold the group together, she had been the one to deal with the after-effects. She had the most to blame the others for, but she didn't, so what in the world let Ale think he had the right to?

Seeing that Ale had gone back into the house, she pointedly went in the opposite direction.

He was sleeping on the couch.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Jethro has gotten to?" Ducky asked Tony and Ziva, who were sitting around, their work finished.

They both shrugged.

"We do not know. We are waiting for him ourselves." Ziva replied.

Noting that McGee was also missing from the group, Ducky frowned at the oddity and went in search of the two men.

He hadn't gotten far, when a distinctly angry looking woman in purple fisherman's pants marched up to him.

"Hello. Can I talk to you, please?"

Feeling his eyebrows rise, Ducky almost smirked. "Of course, my dear."

He gestured towards an elaborately woodworked bench a few steps from where they stood, and the pair sat down.

"Might I inquire as to who you are?" Ducky asked politely.

The woman smiled, seeming slightly more relaxed. "My name's Leigh Rodriguez, this is my house."

The pieces clicked together in Ducky's mind. "Ah, I see, a friend of the vicitm's?"

Leigh's face fell. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Giving her a gentle smile, Ducky motioned for her to go on.

"I'll fill you in on the facts. The victim is Amber Crawley, I went to school with her and so did my husband, and Tim McGee. He went out with her for five years and then broke it off, and Amber turned into a slut and Tim blamed himself for it. My then boyfriend, now husband Alejandro blamed him too, but everyone else was just upset. Tim left the group, and Amber and Timmy both got mega-depressed and I had to go between them and deal with the emotional breakdowns and the episodes of depression and self-loathing and still try and maintain some semblance of a normal life."

The entire speech was made in one breath, leaving Ducky suitably impressed.

"Let's see if I have this. Tim broke up with Amber, and Amber took a turn for the worst."

Leigh nodded.

"You were friends with both of them, and had to cope with their stress on top of your own."

Another nod.

"Your husband blamed Tim for Amber's turn, but the others didn't."

Leigh rolled her eyes. "Ale was really good friends with the old Amber, and he thinks Tim took her away from him."

Ducky took it all in for a moment. "And Timothy blamed himself also. Well, he is a rather insecure man."

"Tell me about it." Leigh said, inhaling deeply.

"Well, I can only imagine the fates have brought you all together again for a reason. Doubtless this is meant to be a chance for you all to resolve your arguments and awkward past. I suggest you take it."

Leigh looked at him nervously. "Really?"

The old Doctor nodded, standing up to help her to her feet. "Yes. I know attempts to gain closure in situations like these rarely come easily, but I'm afraid it is something you must do."

Leigh smiled at the Medical Examiner as she stood up. He was right. This needed to be sorted out, and before she could face Amber or Tim, she needed to figure things out with her husband.

"Thank you..." she trailed off in search of a name.

"Doctor Donald Mallard, but most people just call me Ducky, for obvious reasons." the man obliged.

Smiling still, Leigh let out a laugh. "A Doctor, of course. What a choice."

Ducky smiled back at her. It was hard not to. This woman seemed to naturally be happy. Elation oozed from her pores. "Yes, out of curiosity, I'm inclined to ask, why did you pick me?"

Leigh shrugged. "I needed someone who didn't know anything about it. I'd never seen met you before, so I assumed you'd fit that description. Thank you so much, Doctor Mallard."

Ducky waved her off. "Please, call me Ducky."

"Ducky, then." Giving him one of her radiant smiles, the woman departed towards the house with a determined stride.


	6. Chapter 6

_I am so terribly sorry to all of my readers for how long it took me to update this! Thank you so much to all the people that favourite, reviewed or alerted this story. It's thanks to you guys that I kept writing it. I re-discovered this in the depths of my computer files and though it was time for an update. Hope you enjoy!_

McGee trotted after Leigh as quickly as he could. He was reluctant to talk to her, especially in the state he was in, but what was he going to do when Gibbs was sitting behind him, watching? And besides, part of him did want to talk to Leigh, just to see her. He missed her, and he wanted to know if they were ok.

He caught up to her as they made it to the porch and smiled as he tapped her on the shoulder.

Liz turned and just stood there for a moment. "So you know?" she asked gently, gesturing at his tear streaked face.

McGee laughed lightly. "Yeah, Tony told me. Listen, Leigh-"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence, because Leigh leapt at him in a jumping hug, wrapping her limbs around him and knocking him backwards. They both fell back onto the grass, and Leigh sat triumphantly on McGee's stomach.

Letting out an 'oof' as all of his air left his body, McGee stared up at the woman on his stomach and couldn't help but grin as he saw her scowl. Leigh would never change, and she had never been any good at scowling.

The little woman began punching his arm. "How many years, Timmy? You turned into a real cop, and you didn't call me? I haven't heard from you since college!"

McGee was laughing too much to push her off him. "A real cop?"

Leigh crawled off Mcgee onto the grass and sat up, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "Yes, a real cop."

Sitting up as well, McGee couldn't keep the grin off his face. "I'm a special agent, I'll have you know."

Leigh gave him a look, flicking her hair out of the way. "Very special, I'm sure."

McGee rolled his eyes. "I see how you and Tony got along. What about you? Are you still doing music?"

Nodding emphatically, Leigh grinned. "Yep, I was playing professionally for a while, but I dropped out to look after the kids."

McGee's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "Kids plural? I know about Jasper, but you've had more?"

Leigh laughed, a light, tinkling noise that was completely infectious. "Yes, Timmy! Three of them. I had twins just after college, Rico and Imogen, and I just adopted a baby, Jarred."

McGee just couldn't stop gaping. "Three? Adopted? Whoah…"

Laughing again, Leigh got to her feet and stuck out a hand to help McGee up. "Yes adopted, and yes three. Jarred was abandoned by a young teen mum, so we took him in."

Getting to his feet with the minimal help that Leigh's arms offered, McGee brushed himself off. "Well, we always said it was going to be you guys that would adopt." he said easily.

Immediately, the atmosphere got tense. The slightest mention of the old group had them both looking for a way out.

"Look Leigh, I'm going to try and stay away from this one, ok? I'll just do more harm than g-"

For the second time that day, McGee was cut off by Leigh. She held up a finger. "Don't you dare!"

McGee looked taken aback. "Wha-But-"

Stormclouds seemed to have gathered in Leigh's face, and her eyes were thunderheads. "Don't you dare even think about blaming yourself for this, and don't you _dare_, drop out." She punctuated each phrase with a stab to his chest with her finger, her voice cracking like lightning. "You didn't protect her once, your bloody well going to do it this time. You are going to find who did this to her, Timmy, and you're going to make them pay. Say it!" She stepped forward quickly, forcing McGee to take a step backwards.

McGee's face slowly lost its hopeless look as Leigh's words sunk in. She was right. He was going to do it right this time. "I'm going to find him, Leigh. I'm going to find him."

Immediately, Leigh's stormclouds cleared, and she barrelled into him for another hug. "Good."

McGee wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head as he thought.

"It's good to see you again Timmy." she murmured into his shoulder.

McGee smiled. "You too, Leigh."

Breaking off the hug, Leigh gave him a bright smile and turned to go into the house.

Gibbs watched as McGee watched Leigh walk into the house. His eyes narrowed to catch the tightening of his jaw, something Gibbs recognised as McGee's resolve strengthening and his stubborn streak settling in. Smiling slightly, Gibbs stood and waited. McGee would come and talk to him, he knew it.

Mere moments later, McGee spun on his heel and marched over to Gibbs.

"Well?" Gibbs asked.  
McGee's eyes flashed as he spoke. "I'm going to find who did this to her, Boss. I'm going to find them and I'm going to make them pay."

Gibbs nodded towards the Tony and Ziva. "Go."

Nodding quickly, McGee turned and walked over to the pair.

Gibbs felt a small smile turn his lips as he watched. McGee was strong and confident. It was a good sight to see, and a rare one. He meant to change that fact.


End file.
